The era of the social job search has arrived. Networking has always been at the root of jobhunting. It is highly developed in traditional environments; namely in formal and informal real-world affairs. Add social web tools to these traditional environments and you create your social network. This is the starting point for your job search, using Networking 2.0.
Sites like Facebook and Myspace are designed for friends to share experiences, but they lack the tools for business oriented transactions (aside from ‘hooking-up’). LinkedIn provides a backbone for connected industry workers to tap associative talent. LinkedIn provides a perfect environment to make/seek introductions, which is why you should expand your connections. But does the size of one’s LinkedIn network increase the effectiveness of a job search? I would answer in the positive, and here is why I think that LinkedIn is a useful tool in your Jobhunt 2.0 arsenal.
Like buying more than one lottery ticket, the central tenant of the social job search is the more people who know that you are seeking employment; the more you increase the odds finding a job. As a job seeker, a large LinkedIn profile allows you to broadcast to all your contacts the fact that you are seeking employment. It gives them an opportunity to see your credentials, and its dissemination can explode exponentially. Kathryn Lagden of AIMS Canada commented in the first jobhutning installment that:
my first step when starting a job hunt is to write a short
(3-4 sentence) paragraph about what I’m looking for and send it to my
personal contacts. It makes it really easy for folks to hit the
‘forward’ button and send it on.
Kathryn could not be more correct in my opinion. This great approach
cultivates your jobsearch organically, and introduces others into your
pool of aides. Seeding your resume through these two channels will
increase the likelihood that someone will take notice of you. It is a
good first step in publicizing yourself and your skill set.
What other tools would you recommend? Post them below.
Don’t forget that recruiters often have robust CRM recruiting software and to include them in your job search – whether applying directly to a job on their website or sending in your resume to keep on file. As a headhunter, I might not have an immediate opportunity that matches someone’s skills and interests, but you never know what opportunity might pop up in the near future that I can share.
To get a sense of what you are “worth” at the front end, I’d suggest you check out Monster.ca Salary Wizard Canada ™ tool, which includes various searches by job category and geographical sort (province and cities). The website has some other useful career resources, too.
http://salary.monster.ca/
Good luck in your search, Arieh!
You are never too young to start with LinkedIn. It’s worth noting that it costs nothing to use. Heaven knows, it’s allowed me to reconnect with fellow alumni, colleagues and friends.
But like all networking it requires time and investment for a payoff. I completely agree with Arieh, you only get out what you put in.
Lastly, you might want to consider the integrity of your Linkedin network. You can certainly connect via LinkedIn with everyone you meet. However, I would question the value of those kinds of connections.
My rule of thumb is that I only connect with people I’ve personally met. But hey, to each their own…
As you develop you career you also need to develop you personal network. This is essential in today’s work environment. Often times its your acquaintances and not your friends that will lead you to great job offers. So never discount anyone and using tools like LinKedIn can help you contact those less known people in your surrounding that will lead you to that new opportunity,
Judy Gombita of Certified General Accountants of Ontario sent me a fantastic link of an article titled ten ways to use LinkedIn – another great article to read. Check it out.